


This cereal isn't that bad

by JustAFrange



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Bad Cooking, Gaara doesnt know how to make cereal, Gaara explodes a kitchen, Lee just loves to cook for his crush, M/M, Mutual Pining, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25350124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAFrange/pseuds/JustAFrange
Summary: Gaara, a herbologist student, doesn't know how to cook, and Lee, his roommate and crush, does it for him. One day Gaara decides to cook him dinner, the only problem is that, maybe, the kitchen explodes in the attempt.
Relationships: Gaara/Rock Lee
Comments: 11
Kudos: 51





	This cereal isn't that bad

Gaara was never known for having great cooking skills, in fact, his abilities on the cooking area were so bad that he couldn't even call himself a cook. With some luck the herbologist student made cereal with milk, which always ended up having too much milk or to little cereal with an unpleasant taste.

"It's not that bad!" Lee said one day, even tho Gaara knew the strange taste his bowls of cereal had, deep down Lee admired Gaara's ability to spoil the taste of something so simple.

Lee, his roommate and crush from the first day they saw each other, didn't minded tasting Gaara's "Creations" whenever he managed to do something alone and on his own free will (which didn't happen very often). He didn't prioritize his diet so he kept his body on a caffeine and microwave meals diet. This had impressed Lee in the worst way possible, so he started cooking for him, bringing him healthier options whenever he could, Lee cared a lot about his roommate's health and Gaara didn't mind at all spending more time with Lee.

"You shouldn't eat those microwave soups so often you know, you aren't giving your body the right fuel it needs for the day!" They were both on the kitchen, Lee had his back turned on him, preparing something for dinner, according to him it was going to be a "balanced meal with all the necessary nutrients". Gaara just spent his time looking at Lee's back in silence, the visits to the gym he had mention some weeks ago when they met were paying off, under his black shirt Gaara could see his muscles, he felt his face grown hotter and forced himself to look away, making a slight noise to reply. "I hope you like sautéed vegetables, because I’ll be making some more for a couple of days"

Since they started living together (by mere coincidence of course) Lee noticed his bad eating habits and he made it his goal to help Gaara as much as he could, getting to the point of cooking often for him and putting some cooked food in the fridge. At the start this made Gaara a little uncomfortable, but, when he saw the excitement on Lee's eyes the first time he ate a peanut butter with jam sandwich, he couldn't deny the meals he made him in the future, he just wanted to see those cute eyes sparkle again.

Something about the positive and happy energy of Lee, his beautiful personality and his good formed body made Gaara fall crazy in love, he even started to fantasize about being hugged by Lee, or kissed if he didn't felt like dying from embarrassment. 

Lee was a very interesting young man in Gaara's eyes, an exercise fanatic and a teacher student who was obsessed with "the power of youth". Lee was a little taller than Gaara and a lot stronger, with a perfectly combed mushroom cut and big black eyes, although Lee's more interesting feature were his thick eyebrows. Gaara was completely the opposite of his roommate, he didn't exercise at all and lacked muscle mass, in addition his dull and reserved personality only made people go away; but even if they were opposites in everyway Gaara just liked Lee more everyday. 

The first week of them living together they didn't crossed each other’s paths very often, Lee woke up early and went out to start his morning training, on the other hand Gaara took longer to wake up and start his day, the only time they met was at dinner, when it was dark outside and they had both returned from their respective classes, in those days that coincided was that Lee realized that Gaara only consumed insane amounts of caffeine and the odd microwave soup that they sold at the grosery store, so he got down to business with his "mission."

"It's easier to make coffee in the morning..." Gaara said with a low and calm voice, he didn't usually raise his voice or make a great effort to speak.He looked up and saw Lee's back, then he slowly lowered his gaze to analyze everything in front of him, focusing on its lower part. "Looks good..." He thought, feeling his face redder than before, it was difficult to look away when he had what he desired just in front of him.

"Are you ok? Your face is turning red..." Lee turned around to see him and had carefully placed his hand on his forehead. "Could it be a cold?" The unexpected action made Gaara move a little, feeling his face burn thanks to the contact. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" He said with a nervous smile.

"It's nothing" He said with neutrality, Gaara wasn't ready yet for that kind of contact with Lee. He had always respected his space, but once in a while he would touch his shoulder or back as an alternative of a hug, that kind of actions puzzled Gaara and made him blush in silence. Lee took a step back and smiled, placing his hand on his hips, he was already finished with the vegetables.

"Look at the time! It’s getting late for my yoga class" one quick check at his phone was enough to tell "I’m sorry Gaara, I got to go, I’ll leave you with the vegetables, don't forget to eat them for dinner!" Lee quickly placed the vegetables on a plate in front of Gaara, then he went to the entrance of the apartment and grabbed a small backpack that had some things inside. Gaara had forgotten that Lee was wearing his gym clothes, so he was ready to go. “I hope you enjoy your dinner, see you later!"

Without saying anything else, he left the apartment, leaving Gaara alone with a plate full of vegetables that gave off a pleasant aroma. "Bye..." he murmurs practically to himself and then direct his gaze to the plate, he could already hear Lee's voice asking him to eat, so without wasting any more time he took out his phone and started reading some papers from his career while slowly eating the vegetables.

By the time he had finished eating, Gaara was watching his social media, he didn't use them beyond following plant blogs and cute animal images. After a while a specific publication caught his attention, it was a list of cute details and gifts you could give to the person you liked to get their attention. Gaara was not the type of person to give gifts or details, not even his brothers had received much from him over the years, so that post maybe was what he needed. So, with an idea in mind, he began to read it, perhaps among the options he would find something that he could gift Lee, to thank him for the times he cooked for him (in addition to the possibility of spending more time together).

After reading for a while, he found an option that seemed appropriate for the occasion: 'cooking something for his special person', Gaara knew that his strength was not cooking, but it shouldn't be very difficult to follow a few instructions, his sister Temari had once told him that "if you know how to read you know how to cook". If Gaara wanted to surprise Lee, he had to hurry, he still had more than an hour until he returned from his yoga class. He got up determined and began to look for ingredients in the fridge and the cupboard, in the article he was reading there were a few recipes that caught his attention.

Gaara chose to prepare a chicken with vegetables, the recipe said that it would take him about 30 minutes to do everything, so he would have time to prepare it carefully and place it on the table. "It will be like a romantic dinner..." Gaara thought, as he washed the vegetables he was going to use, he didn't quite know how he had to cut them, perhaps he would know if he spent his time in the kitchen watching the process instead of the handsome cook.

He proceeded to cut the vegetables into strips, in his mind he thought they would end up better, but they came out with irregular shapes, some being longer and thicker than others. Gaara ignored this and continued with his task, now he had to season the chicken, which was already cut into a good-sized piece (courtesy of Lee and his organization when it came to cooking). He took a little bit of salt and pepper and carefully sprinkled some on top of the chicken. "Maybe a little more ..." He thought and then added more, now the pink meat of the raw chicken was bathed in salt and pepper excess, Gaara started gradually removing the excesses with a spoon, until he considered that it was a little better.

After placing everything on a tray came the most challenging part: cooking it. In the recipe it said that he should heat the oil in a frying pan, but he was somewhat afraid of hot oil.

Now Gaara was looking nervously at the gas burners, which in his eyes looked like extraterrestrial devices, he took a deep breath and proceeded to light one of these, it seemed to be the simplest part of the cooking process. When he saw a small flame fueled by gas, he decided to place the pan on it, thus avoiding possible burns thanks to his inexperience.

When he felt safe he put the oil in, he didn't know how much he should put so he added a lot more than he should, "Just to be sure .." He said to himself, trying not to get nervous, now what was left was to place the chicken and vegetables to cook them.

After a while the oil was already hot, so Gaara proceeded to place the chicken he wanted to cook.

But on the exact same moment he was going to place the chicken on the pan full of oil, he heard the door open suddenly with a strong noise, revealing a rather tired and sweaty Lee that was shouting about something with his usual smile, greeting him naturally. Gaara's fright only made him drop the chicken into the pan, causing the oil to drain out of it and come into contact with the flame, causing a somewhat large explosion.

Gaara's romantic plans were ruined.

...

Now they were both in the hospital, the explosion had caused Gaara's hand some burns, in addition to an asthma attack that he managed to calm with his inhaler. Lee was not sure what had happened, but immediately took his roommate to the hospital, he still had several questions but he thought to leave them for later. After they treated Gaara's burns they asked him to stay in bed while they organize his case, leaving them both alone in the room.

"Sorry" Gaara said after the nurse left, turning to see Lee, who still had his gym clothes on and a rather worried look. "I think I must have waited for you to come back to cook"

"No no Gaara! It's okay, I was the one who scared you and caused this, I’m seriously sorry..." Lee had his head down, looking at him with pity, it seemed that he was even going to cry at any moment. "I shouldn't have come in like that, excuse me Gaara..."

Gaara couldn't bear to see Lee like that, apologizing for something that wasn't his fault, it actually made him kind of angry. "Stop apologizing, nothing happened, I should have waited for you anyway, I just wanted it to be a surprise..."

Lee looked up to meet his eyes, curiosity was replacing sadness and sorrow in his eyes. "A surprise? For... _me?_ "

Gaara took a breath, he needed to relax. "Yes, I wanted to give you something in exchange for ... all the times you've cooked for me" He tried not to sound nervous, but he would still look away, feeling his cheeks warmer. "I didn't plan for you to arrive earlier, otherwise I would have rushed to serve you something"

Lee was silent, staring at Gaara, when he turned to see him he noticed that his face was lighting up, showing one of his big smiles, before he could avoid it Lee was already on top of him, hugging him carefully.

"Gaara! You were cooking of your own free will, and for me!" Lee said while hugging him, Gaara wasn't mentally ready for contact yet, but at that point he didn't care anymore, his whole damn hand had been burned while making something for that boy, he could give himself the freedom to enjoy the hug. "It makes me so happy Gaara, but please be careful next time, okay? I don't want you to get burned like that again."

Gaara was still silent, but he slowly placed the hand that was not covered in bandages to reciprocate his hug. "Next time..." He said quietly, enjoying the moment and the scent of Lee, he could _quickly_ get used to that closeness.

Lee parted a bit to see him, they were quite close and they both had a slight red color on their cheeks. "Only if you want to of course! You know I will gladly eat whatever you prepare for me" Lee gave him a somewhat nervous smile, his red face made Gaara very happy, although he didn't process how to react to such closeness. Gaara look at him and gave him a little smile before speaking.

"Well... for now, I don't think I can cook absolutely anything, so..." Maybe it wasn't going to be his best move, and he was a little scared that Lee would reject it, but he had to try, he already lost a hand, what else could he lose? "...Do you want to go out to eat something? To compensate you, for now of course..."

Gaara could feel his heart pounding against his chest, he didn't know if it was still from the explosion from before or by how cute Lee looked as he blinked, staring at him, processing the words he had spoken.

"Go out... like a date?" Lee said, with a slight smile that was beginning to get bigger, just like his blush. "Just you and I?

Gaara was silent, he had not finished processing that indeed, it was a date. "Sure, a date" He finally said, at any moment he would pass out from how strong his heart beat against his chest, if he didn't start taking care of himself he was going to spend more time in that hospital. "Just you and me"

He was going to add something else to his sentence but he only felt Lee hugging him again, this time with a little more force, he could feel his heart beating as fast as his, had he said something wrong? When Lee parted, he had a big smile on his face, even with red cheeks.

"I've wanted to ask you before, but I didn't want to bother you" Lee was looking at him, with those big dark eyes that drove Gaara crazy, while laughing nervously. "You're always studying and-- and I couldn't interrupt you, you try really hard to keep your grades and--"

"Relax Lee, it’s nothing" He said, looking at him with a false calm, he had his crush from months ago just a few inches away, hugging him, the only thing he wanted to do at that moment was to kiss him, but he didn't wanted to invade his space like that. "Although... if you had asked before I wouldn't have refused"

"Then I'll invite you next time, it's a promise!" Lee said with a smile, raising his thumb as he nodded.

After that he looked at Gaara in silence, he approached and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then separated and got up next to the bed, his face was quite red. "And next time please let me cook for you, I don't want something like this to happen again, although if you want I can teach you! I promise that nothing will happen to you if I'm with you"

Gaara felt like a computer loading, he hadn't finished processing that hug and less had he processed that kiss, many things he had fantasized about on the past months were happening in no time. He forced himself to cough a little to get out of his trance and looked at Lee, "Fuck, I love him..." He thought when he saw him, the boy had not only tolerated his reserved way of being for months, but also cooked for him to help during his studies. He had also taken him to the hospital only because Gaara panicked when he saw him and exploded the kitchen with a _fucking piece of chicken_.

"Okay, cooking isn't my thing anyway" He leaned back on his bed, and closed his eyes, it was better not to think anymore and just enjoying the moment. It had been a day full of surprises after all, he just didn't think it would end up with him in a hospital with a burned hand and with a planned date with his crush, cooking was a strange and surprising act. "But nothing will stop me from preparing cereal with milk, I'm... 75% sure that I won’t explode that"

"I already told you! Your cereal with milk isn't _that_ bad, you just put a lot of sugar in it" Lee sat down in one of the chairs that were next to the hospital bed and moved closer, taking Gaara's right hand that wasn't burned, he took it carefully and a little cautiously, waiting for his reaction. He wasn't thinking about it too much anymore, so he gently squeezed Lee's hand, he could seriously get used to that contact.

He only hoped that in the future he could hold both of his hands with his, but for now he had to rest his burned hand by a piece of explosive chicken.

**Author's Note:**

> I made this based on this prompt: "I’m like 75% sure this won’t explode on us.” picked by my best friend July (yes, thats his name)  
> Ill be making more prompts soon! thanks for reading and sorry if there are any typos, im learning to write better in english!  
> (Also this is for you Skunn, i hope this cheers you up! <3)


End file.
